There is plenty of blame to go around.

By Richard Clark / Columnist

Published: Saturday, January 19, 2013 at 02:46 PM.

There is plenty of blame to go around.

One side points to the other while the other wags its finger(s) back.

However, the seeds of our ever-growing divisive political landscape can be traced to January 20, 2009. The day was Barack Obama’s inauguration, but it’s not what most of you are thinking. Instead, it was a meeting held at a restaurant on that very same day where the Republican elite gathered to discuss future strategies.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and GOP speech writer Frank Luntz were also in at the meeting.

According to several sources, it is at this meeting where it was decided to disagree with everything coming from the White House. Not a few issues. Not the bad policies. Not some issues, but EVERYTHING.

Gingrich was quoted as saying, “You’ll remember this as the day the seeds of 2012 were sown.” Sen. Mitch McConnell took it step further, saying on the record in October 2010, that his party’s primary goal was to make Obama a one-term president.

However, the seeds of our ever-growing divisive political landscape can be traced to January 20, 2009. The day was Barack Obama’s inauguration, but it’s not what most of you are thinking. Instead, it was a meeting held at a restaurant on that very same day where the Republican elite gathered to discuss future strategies.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and GOP speech writer Frank Luntz were also in at the meeting.

According to several sources, it is at this meeting where it was decided to disagree with everything coming from the White House. Not a few issues. Not the bad policies. Not some issues, but EVERYTHING.

Gingrich was quoted as saying, “You’ll remember this as the day the seeds of 2012 were sown.” Sen. Mitch McConnell took it step further, saying on the record in October 2010, that his party’s primary goal was to make Obama a one-term president.

Think about that for a second — he didn’t say “let’s do what’s right” or “let’s do what will help the people,” but “let’s get rid of Obama.”

Republicans on the Hill were instructed to trash every Obama bill on any and every media outlet in an attempt to sway the public. They also began running attack ads in May 2009, just two months after the inauguration, against anyone that had the audacity to support President Obama.

In the first month of the president’s administration, Obama went to the Hill in person, an unprecedented move, to meet with Republican leadership in hopes of establishing some bipartisan cooperation.

So what did he get for his efforts? Nothing. Actually, that’s incorrect — he got a preview of how the next few years would be in regard to the hatred-laced political slopes.

The unwillingness to work with the president is akin to a petulant child taking his ball and going home because he lost. Or maybe, its just Texas-sized egos run amok, which means the needs of the electorate has once again taken a back seat to what the “power boys of D.C.” want.

A serious argument can be made that the GOP’s unhealthy attacks on Obama have slowed our economic recovery. Obama’s American Jobs Act, which has been lauded by many economists for its potential job creation, has been held up by House and Senate Republicans for more than a year. Meanwhile, jobs are still difficult to find.

In the absence of a solid job growth agenda, have the Republicans offered any job-creating bills? Nope. However, Boehner and the rest of the Good Ole Boys love getting in front of camera and telling anyone that will listen how bad things are out there, but solutions don’t roll off their tongues quite so easily.

It’s much easier to talk bad about someone else’s plans than to actually have one of your own I suppose.

The thing about digging your heels in is that it causes the other side to do the same. We are at a critical time in our nation’s path. There are enormous decisions on the horizon, decisions that will require smart people willing to listen to all ideas and compromising to find the best solution. Standing with your lip poked out and talking bad about the other guy is not a solution. It is time to do what is best for our country.

So why is President Obama such a polarizing figure for the Right? I believe most of us truly know why. It’s certainly not because he is such a liberal. Obama is far more moderate than President Clinton.

It’s certainly not because of his military positions. Obama has given far greater latitude to CIA and drone attacks than even President Bush, so much so that many on the left are unhappy with his stance.

The culmination of the conservative’s disdain for the President has never more apparent in the comments over the nomination of Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense. Once again, showing that it’s the messenger and not the message, the right has attacked the choice.

The irony is that Hagel is one of theirs. He is a REPUBLICAN from Nebraska. Does it get anymore conservative than that?

Obama has shown how truly moderate he is by selecting several Republicans for cabinet positions. Exactly how many cabinet members from the other side of the aisle did his predecessor President George W. Bush place in his category you ask? One — Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta.

Is that bipartisan cooperation?

So what is it? Why all the venomous hate for this president? Well … you do your own soul searching and do the math.

Richard Clark is the universal desk chief for Halifax Communications ENC. You can reach him at 910-219-8452 or at Richard.Clark@jdnews.com.